my lifeline's for the asking
by cyclothimic
Summary: "You said I changed your life for the better. What you don't know is that…if I had never met you," he sighed with a smile, brushing away a tear from her cheek, "I might be long gone by now."


**ARROW SEASON 4 PREMIERE. i'm still melting into a puddle of my otp tears. i'm so lit right now. they're so fucking adorable.**

 **"i love every moment that we're together, no matter where we are."**

 **fucking hell hell hell hell**

 **anyway, read, ponder, and enjoy!**

* * *

 _I promise you're safe with me_

 _You're not alone_

 _You're safe with me_

 _Your heart is home_

 _Now and forever_

 _-Safe with Me, Megan Nicole_

* * *

"I'm not here to fight you, Mr. Queen," Damien Darhk said as soon as they'd barged through the barricade, expecting an army of ghosts to confront them only to find the man with bleached blonde hair sitting calmly at a desk.

He lowered his quiver in shock.

Darhk chuckled darkly. "Did you really expect me to not find out who you are?" The man stood up, buttoning up the lapels of his jacket. Oliver hastily brought his quiver and arrow, aiming at him. Darhk held up his hands in mock surrender. "I keep my promise, Mr. Queen. I don't wanna fight today – even though I know I'd win anyway."

"Why did you lure us here?" he demanded, turning off his voice modulator given that Darhk already knew his identity.

"I make it a point to officially meet the man my daughter's dating, one way or another," Darhk said with an amicable sigh.

"What is he talking about?" Thea murmured from behind him.

"Oliver?" Laurel asked.

Dig was silent, but Oliver could feel his confused gaze burning into the back of his head.

Oliver frowned at the man standing before him under his hood. "What are you talking about?" he reiterated Thea's question.

He felt like he had an underlying notion on what Darhk was talking about. He had hints. He'd seen things that made him think of things along that line. How they were both smarter than anyone else in this room; how they were both **so** good with computers; how they always used sarcasm and talk about things that no one knew about; Oliver had seen it all.

But he didn't believe it.

He sucked in a breath when he saw the smile on Darhk's face extend into an enigmatic grin. "You're a smart man, Mr. Queen," Darhk chuckled. "You _know_ exactly what I'm talking about."

"Is there something you're not telling us, Oliver?" Dig asked this time, breaking his silence.

Oliver ignored them, his eyes darting downwards. He was waiting for Felicity to say something. He knew she could hear them over the comlink. Her silence this time felt ominous. Somehow, he _knew_ that she _knew_. He mentally begged that she speak. He licked his lips and shifted his weight to the other foot.

"I don't know." It came out hoarse and cowardly. He wasn't scared for himself. He was scared for the woman they'd left alone in the lair. He was scared that whatever came out of Darhk's mouth, it would take her from him. Well, maybe he was a little scared for himself.

"Oliver," Felicity enunciated for the first time. He closed his eyes, holding his breath. Even with that one word of three syllables, he just understood.

"She's on coms with you, isn't she?" Darhk assumed. Oliver opened his eyes, glaring at the man before him with a newfound animosity. "She's never known how Damien Darhk looks like so we can't actually blame her for not knowing, right?" Oliver's grip on his quiver tightened. He could kill him right here. "Well, now that I know that you _do_ love her very much, I guess I'll spare you for today."

Darhk took a step back, ready to take his leave.

"Prove it," Oliver demanded.

"Oliver, don't," Felicity said in a shaky voice.

He clenched his jaw. He ignored her. "Prove it."

Darhk raised his brows, clearly impressed. He laughed lightly before nodding. "When she was five, she tried to build a computer on her own. She stole my computer parts to do it. She thought I didn't know. But, whenever she woke up the next morning after having built another part, she'd find that the stolen parts were replaced by brand new parts. That's me."

It took a long while until he heard Felicity drew in a shuddering breath. "I need some air."

"Felicity," Oliver whispered, but she was already gone. He sighed. He drew his bow rapidly, aiming at Darhk's chest. "You have no idea what you've done to her and her mother."

"I did what I had to do."

He pulled the string back until it was fully taut. "You son of a bitch."

"Ollie," Laurel called.

"Not today, man," Dig said. "She needs you back home."

Eventually, he lowered his quiver. He swung on his feet and walked away.

Felicity needed him.

* * *

He had assumed that she'd be back home – at the loft – when they'd come back to an empty lair. The computers were running themselves, as expected of his always-prepared girlfriend. He'd suppressed the urge to go back out dressed in his suit and look for Felicity, knowing that she would need time to herself.

He deposited his quiver in the display glass case and stared at it for a few moments as he remembered everything that had happened just an hour ago. Darhk's mocking tone made it all the more worse.

He heaved a sigh through his nose and turned back around, ready to get changed and get home to his girlfriend. He stopped short in his tracks when he saw his teammates were all staring at him. He blinked and frowned.

"What?"

Dig crossed his arms. "What did Darhk mean when he said that you know exactly what he was talking about?"

Oliver frowned and shook his head. "I don't know," he lied.

"Ollie, I thought we're past keeping secrets from each other," Thea said.

Yes, they were. He swallowed and shook his head minutely. "This isn't something you guys should know."

"Damn it, Oliver. She's on the team too!" Dig exclaimed. "That makes it something that we should know."

"Can we…can we not do this now? I have to go home to Felicity," he whispered, fidgeting in his impatience.

They glowered at him for several moments before simultaneously nodding. He nodded in response and practically sprinted to the bathroom to strip himself of his leather suit. He carelessly picked up a piece of shirt and a pair of cargo pants from the wardrobe they kept in the lair and pulled them on. He didn't even bother bidding goodbye as he headed out.

Felicity needed him.

* * *

She was slumped over at the bar, a decanter of red – or an empty decanter – sitting on the bar top. He stealthily shut the door and stood by the couch, watching her. To be honest, her stillness scared him. And for the first time, he didn't know how to approach her.

Her arms were crossed over the bar top and she had her head buried in them. Her blonde ponytail was in a mess and she didn't even bother to fully unzip her dress. The fireplace was unlit for the first time since they'd moved in here. She didn't even attempt to turn on the lights. So the place was now cold and desolate and dark.

He wasn't used to cold and desolate and dark when it came to Felicity Smoak.

God, he wanted to marry her so bad.

He glanced over at the bowl of decorative marbles where he'd hidden the ring before looking back. He then cleared his throat, making his presence known. She didn't even react. He felt all kinds of heaviness in his chest right now because first, he had no idea how to deal with this Felicity and second, she was hurting which, ipso facto, hurt him too.

He moved nearer when she lifted her head, twirling the empty goblet in her hand. She clinked it to the empty decanter and put the goblet down with a bitter chuckle.

"Not even red wine is cooperating with me right now," she muttered with dark humor.

In a heartbeat, he was right behind her, holding her shoulders and brushing his hands up and down her skin. "You should go to bed."

All he got from her was silence. He would give anything to hear her rant or throw things or even take it out on him. He just wanted her to stop hurting.

"Felicity," he whispered.

"We should call Nyssa. Thea and her and I, we could start a club. The Evil Daddies Club. Only the three of us. It'd be fun. We can go to Verdant every Thursday and get drunk and complain about our villain daddies." She was doing her thing again, using humor and sarcasm to cover up her anger and desperation. "It's funny. Our daddies are all from the League of Assassins." She chuckled and shook her head. "I hope you won't be an evil daddy when we have a kid because then it'd be a serious joke."

He tried not to react to her mentioning a kid. _When we have a kid_ , she'd said, as if it was a definite occasion. He would give her a soccer team if she wanted one. All she had to do was ask. But then, that really wasn't the issue right now.

"Don't do this, Felicity, please," he begged. He applied force to her shoulders, turning her around on the stool she was sitting on. His heart clenched when he saw her face. Her swollen and reddened eyes, her puffy cheeks, her trembling chin and her clenched jaw; they were all indicating towards one thing. "Talk to me."

She sucked in a deep breath and smiled sadly. "You must hate me," she whispered.

He frowned. "Why do you say that?" he asked. She should know that he'd never hate her.

She shrugged. "My father is in control of a super evil corporation which probably more evil than Evil Incorporated. He's freaking Damien Darhk and I'm his freaking junior. How could you not hate me?"

"Hey," he stopped her urgently. His hands moved to her face, cupping her face in his hands. "I could never hate you. You're different from him. You're nothing like him."

"Really? Because my mother's right, now that I think about it. His IQ is way over anyone else's; so is mine. He's a computer genius; I think we all know what I'm capable of. He talks nerd; so do I. I'm a carbon copy of him except for the fact that I do not have a penis and mystic powers that suck the freaking life out of people. I figured I could get that down if I had the motivation."

He laughed helpless at the analogy she'd just presented. How could she not see that she was one thousand times more different than Damien Darhk? He shook his head. "Felicity, you're _not_ him. You wanna know why?"

"Why?"

"You saved my life," he said. She frowned in confusion. "I was in a place so dark that I couldn't even see if I had turned on a flashlight. I was a murderer. I didn't feel remorse for taking a life. Not even Laurel could stop me. But then I met you. And you…you were so kind and so empathic and you taught me things that no one ever taught me. You made me laugh. You made me _not_ kill anymore. You might as well be the only person who could refuse me and not feel guilty about me."

"Oliver –"

"You said I changed your life for the better. What you don't know is that…if I had never met you," he sighed with a smile, brushing away a tear from her cheek, "I might be long gone by now." He leaned forward to kiss her, long and languid. When he drew back, he rested his forehead against hers. "You've been by my side this whole time. This time, let me be by yours. Let me be your pillar. We'll get through this together."

And then she broke. Her throat released an ungodly noise as she sobbed. He hastily enveloped her in his arms, carrying her over the couch and draping her over him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and cried into his shirt.

His heart ached. His entire body roared with pleas. He was so in love with her that he could feel her emotions coursing through him. He pleaded for her to go to sleep so she wouldn't have to cry. It almost felt like it was killing him, to hear her cry like that.

But right now, she needed him. He would be here for her. He would be here for her every step of the way.

He kissed the top of the head and carded his fingers through her hair gently, fighting a tear of his own from escaping as he whispered, "It'll be okay, Felicity. I promise you, love."

They would get through this together.

* * *

 **eep**


End file.
